Create a Pollinator Habitat to Help Feed Honey Bees and Conserve Our Wild Pollinators

Pollinators play a critical role in agriculture and healthy ecosystems. Animal and insect pollinators are responsible for pollinating more than 75% of the world’s flowering plants, including approximately 35% of global food crops. Honey bees and native bees provide valuable pollination services for many fruits, nuts, berries, melons, and squash, while butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, flies, birds, bats, and other species also contribute to pollination.

Many pollinator species have declined due to habitat loss and the reduction of natural food sources. Some populations have become endangered, while others have disappeared entirely. A pollinator habitat provides the food, shelter, and nesting areas necessary for pollinators to survive and reproduce.

Recognizing the importance of pollinators to both agriculture and natural ecosystems, federal conservation programs have made pollinator habitat research, restoration, and protection a priority. These initiatives encourage landowners, land managers, and conservationists to incorporate pollinator-friendly habitat into working lands and conservation projects, supporting both managed pollinators, such as honey bees, and the diverse native pollinators that contribute to crop production and ecosystem health.

Creating and protecting pollinator habitat is one of the most effective ways to support pollinator populations. Productive habitat includes a diversity of flowering plants that provide nectar and pollen throughout the growing season, along with nesting sites and areas protected from harmful pesticide exposure.

A successful pollinator planting should also account for nesting requirements. Most native bees nest in the ground, making undisturbed, sunny areas of bare soil an important habitat component. Other species nest in wood, stems, or twigs and benefit from these features being incorporated into the landscape. Excessive tillage, digging, and pesticide use can damage pollinator populations by destroying nests, eggs, and larvae.

Pollinator habitat can be established in both rural and urban settings. Farms, ranches, parks, golf courses, commercial landscapes, and home gardens can all provide valuable floral resources and habitat when properly designed and managed. Research has shown that these areas can support a diverse range of pollinator species and help supplement habitat where natural areas have been lost.

Applewood Seed Company offers seed mixes for NRCS conservation practices, including CP42 Pollinator Habitat, designed to establish high-quality forage and nesting habitat for pollinators. The Xerces Society also provides valuable resources for planning and maintaining pollinator habitat. Contact us for recommendations tailored to your project.

Honey Bee Pollination Services

Honey bees don’t just produce wax and honey – they provide valuable crop pollination services for many agricultural crops. Honey bees are not native to the U.S. – they originally came from Europe and were brought over by early colonists. Honey bee colonies have long been managed by beekeepers to provide honey bee pollination services for crops as well as for honey production. The list of crops that benefit from honey bee pollination is endless – alfalfa, almonds, apples, berries, canola, clovers, peaches, peppers, squash, sunflower oil, watermelons and many more.

Native Bees and Pollination: Keystone Species in the Ecosystem

According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, there are over 4,000 species of bees in the U.S. alone. Native bees are the most predominant pollinators of flowering plants in nature, thus contributing a vital service to the ecosystem. Because of this important role, bees are referred to as “keystone species”. Without native bees, many of our native plant populations would decline, impacting other organisms that are dependent on them for food and shelter.

Native Bee Habitat

There was a time when native bees and wild honey bees performed all of a farmer’s pollination needs because of the presence of natural areas nearby. These natural areas provided nesting sites, food and protection for the bees. Because of the way agricultural landscapes are developed today, there is often a lack of native bee habitat and forage near farms. Techniques to encourage native bees to live in your area are simple to implement. These can be applied on farms, in commercial landscapes and in home gardens.

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Host Plants for Butterfly Gardens

Everyone loves butterflies for their wonderful array of colors and patterns as well as their graceful movements. Images of butterflies have been popular for jewelry, decoration and crafts for centuries. Butterflies undergo an amazing metamorphosis from egg, to caterpillar to beautiful, winged adult. It is possible to plant flowers in a home garden to attract and maintain populations of butterflies for many years to come. The key is to provide appropriate nectar plants for the adult butterflies and include larval host plants for their babies to eat.

Pollinator Resources

We have compiled a list of pollinator resources for more information on honey bees and native pollinators. These include information on pollinator habitat, bee identification, and crop pollination.

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